Far and Away

My daughter and I will be leaving with Baby H in a couple of hours for his very first vacation and the first in quite some time for me.  It's pretty low key - almost like an experiment in learning to vacation with a toddler.  I chose a low key location because after the chaos of the last two years, I think the term "unplug" is not only a nice ideal for time away, it's become a little necessary.  Time to reconnect with other things besides computers and phones.  So we'll be staying in a family-friendly cabin, and I'm taking not one, not two, but three books.  What I'm not taking is a dog.

And that was a hard decision.  The cabin is dog friendly as well, and I had originally booked it with the pet premium.  But then logic prevailed, or rather everyone else talked me out of it.  We've got clothes for three, food for a week, all the requisite toddler supplies (booster seat, umbrella stroller, baby carrier for hiking, sippy cups, snack containers, baby utensils, some toys and books and of course diapers), so they convinced me there's no room for a dog and his supplies, let alone more than one.  And then corralling a toddler in a strange place is going to be fun enough - don't add a dog to the mix, they argued.  Reluctantly, for this trip, I have to agree.

But that's a hard decision.  I read once in article by PETA that leaving a dog alone is so traumatic because their lifespans are so short, so every day away from you feels like a year.  It's easy for me to dismiss PETA a lot of the time because they have very stringent viewpoints with little room for the shades of grey that real life requires.  I once took a quiz they put out about whether or not you're a good dog owner.  I scored well on it actually, but it's because I work from home and can cater to their every need.  I realized at the time that most pet owners, including me for most of my life, couldn't have passed muster according to that test, because we have to go forth into society and earn a living.  Without the dog some of the time.  I personally don't think that makes all my neighbors bad pet owners.  It just makes me appreciate my unique situation a little more.

And of course the dogs won't be alone.  We have someone staying here full-time, but he won't be chained here, so I did have to fix up with basement by gating off part of it, putting down dog beds, moving their toy inventory down there, and so on.  Dogs are not stupid.  This behavior was met with less than enthusiasm.  And when the packing began, the real "woes me" behavior started.  I travel for work sometimes - they know what packing means.  When they weren't giving me the stink eye, they were sitting on my bed as if to say, "I dare you to move me from here and put me down there."  And of course, a trip like this takes a little planning, so I left several times yesterday to go get this that or the other.  Every time I left, if looks could kill...

But this morning, the sun came up, and I was still here!  So I think they assume it was all a drill of some sort. They're very enthusiastic - and being a bit bad actually.  Like I'm being punished for putting them through such terror yesterday!   

All this does make one wonder as a dog owner if taking a vacation without your pets is a selfish act.  A couple of my cousins went to Europe earlier this year.  Their photos were amazing.  I've never been to Europe.  There are a lot of reasons for that actually, but a major hurdle is what to do with the dogs.  I am more than willing to make that trade-off, but there are things I really would like to see and do at some point, and not all of them are pet friendly.  And more so when one of your pets gets car sick going around the block.

Like a lot of things in life, I'm not sure I have the perfect answer.  And, like a lot of things in life, I'm not entirely sure there is one.  You've got to just practice a balanced approach.  

I know the dogs will miss us.  I know I'll miss them,  But they will hardly suffer in their nice, large yard, and they'll have their toys and one another to occupy them if they do have to spend a few hours here or there alone.  And when I come back, hopefully rested and restored to at a degree, I'll be a better dog owner because of it.  I think that's the balance I've come to for now.